Success at Sexpo 2015

+ OutreachWarriors Bec Hannan, Chris Hunt and Amelia Towle +

In 2014 S*xpo cancelled their Melbourne event as they feared they would not have enough numbers in attendance. It was a relief to me as we operate with such limited resources. I am confortable going to S*xpo. It is the world I have known, in secret, for a decade. In 2002 after a year of study on a scholarship from Québec, Canada to Melbourne, Australia, I was lured into the legal sex industry of Victoria. I now stand against it.

Thank you for your compassion for me. We survivors of prostitution live forever with the scars that this industry leaves on us. Visible, invisible, insiduous and, at times, generational. Please continue help me break the cycle of violence by standing with me in this fight against male entitlement for sex, and continue to selflessly donate your finances, time, talents and prayers to us so we can continue to run Pink Cross Foundation Australia.

Your financial donations meant at lot to me. I was able to print important material, rent the trade show booth and make myself available to dozens of men and women for them to hear the other side of the not-so-glamourous sex industry.

You may have seen me with my pink wig talking to people and taking notes. This is part of a project I call Miracle Day. All volunteers involved joyfully participated in this relational art project, where they asked the crowd: 'If there was a miracle I could do in your own personnal life, what would it be?'

I was also asked to take part in a debate with Upper House elected Member of Parliament and Sex Party Founder Fiona Patten. It was a last minute suggestion by herself as some of her Twitter supporters—seeing that we were preparing to take part in S*xpo—questionned our acceptance as an organisation at that trade show. 'They are against us, so why should they be there?' After all, Patten was part of the initial management team who created the group, she shared with me.

I was not in a public debate mode. I was in an operational mode and unprepared both emotionnaly and mentally to answer questions. I asked her that the questions be known in advance, that anyone wanting to interact with me would be respectful. I was warned by many of you about how truth would be twister when it would come down to making information public. I was thorn inside. I really want to be a vehicle for change, I really am called to speak up against injustice.

I became very ill the day the debate was going to happen. Anxiety and stress created acute gastrointestinal pains. In other words, I vomited all day. Unbeknownst to me, I now read that it is factually recognised as one of the symptom of intense fear. Prostitutes are recognised to numb the pain of the constant 'paid' rapes we face, and not be able to assess rightly what is dangerous in that lifestyle and other spheres of our lives. This was revealed to me by reading Irish author and survivor Rachel Moran's memoir, Paid For. We have been trained to live with pain and hurt, and accept it as normal. We have been trained not to feel pain, and to have no fear. Maybe I still have work to do on this. I have always been renowned for my gregarious and adventurous nature. I thought when I became a Christian that I would start living a more conservative life. I guess it all has to do with channeling our energy into a cause we believe in.

Thank you all who jumped in to volunteer on the first day when I was bed ridden. I made it to the event to check if the booth was set up the right way. Pro-sex work activist took photos of me and spread lies. I don't lie anymore. I repented from lying for the ten years of my life I lived a double-life. I am bold with the truth now.

I was interviewed on Double X-2ser radio: All Women's news and Current Affairs by Eliza Berlage on Nov 9, 2015. Also on the show Janelle Fawlkes from Scarlett Alliance, Fiona Patten and porn star Lucie Bee. Upon writing this article, I realised that they took the radio segment offline. Too controversial, I suppose...as I mentionned that I care for the women at S*xpo and that pornography is oppression against women. Fawkes, Pattens and Bee all standing for their own personal, commercial, exploitative, self-serving agendas. It was interesting to find that, as I just started following Elena Jeffreys—Scarlett Alliance's founder—on Twitter that her profile reads the following: 'Sex worker tweeting about sex work, life, politics & the world. Almost PhD in Political Science & International Studies. Proud drug user, living with Hep C.'

Loving people unconditionnaly. Loving the way Jesus loves people; with compassion, patience, forgiveness and gentleness. Loving in an informed way. Loving like a radfem, a radical feminist who is looking at the root causes of girls and women's oppression. Loving men who care for the cause of the oppressed. Encourageing men to stand up against porn, and influence their peers to treat women with respect. Without God in my life, I would still not have forgiven my biological father for leaving his wife Suzanne, mum of three girls including a mentally disabled one, in material poverty. Leading me to hate men, to accumulate study debts, and to be burned by the prostitution industry. Today, I embrasse men's capacity to influence the world in favor of social justice. You are this man. You know this man. Tell him about Pink Cross. Tell him about our important work.

I will leave it at this for now, unedited and raw, in all the glory of my second language writing skills! Would you be keen to volunteer to revise my texts once in a while get in touch at info at pinkcross.org.au. We are all longing for a much needed break. A Joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, precious friends and supporters. See you in 2016!

Disclaimer: Pink Cross Foundation Australia responds to the most severe injustice and alienation against individual women, children and men. We provide services without discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs, race, gender, culture, social position, or nationality.

Pink Cross Foundation Australia aims to support people involved in the adult industries by promoting respectful relationships and preventing the disintegration of families. As part of our work to lead debate and promote social change, we often include links to other websites or publications. Including links to other websites does not represent endorsement or approval of any content.

Pink Cross Foundation Australia is a charity registered in the state of Victoria. ABN (Australian Business Number): 13357401729. All donations soon to be Tax Deductible.

SEX WORK AND PORN: IT’S NOT GLAMOROUS! IT KILLS. GET THE FACTS. GET HELP.